Ignore the National Assembly

Article 83 of the Constitution provides for a bicameral federal parliament consisting of the National Assembly and the House of Representatives. The National Assembly is a permanent house. The tenure of its members is 6 years. The term of each one-third of the members expires every 2 years and the same number of members are elected. The tenure of the members elected for the first time was determined by rounding system for two years, four years and six years. The tenure of those appointed for 6 years ends today. Tomorrow (February 21) the tenure of the new member begins with the swearing-in. Their election was held on January 11.

In the 6-year period of the National Assembly, 59 people have left, as many have entered. Many members who have experience in the first 2 years and 4 years are now in the House of Representatives. The Chief Minister of Gandaki Province, Surendra Pandey, has also come out with the experience of the first two years of the National Assembly.

People's representatives also people's representatives

As the members of the state assembly and the head/deputy head of the local level are elected, the national assembly is also called the representative of the people. Must be of age to be a member of the National Assembly. 25 years of age is sufficient to be a member of the House of Representatives, but 35 years of age is required for a member of the National Assembly. In the National Assembly, 8/8 people from each province are elected 56 people, the remaining 3 people are nominated by the President on the recommendation of the government.

On June 6, 2078, I entered the National Assembly after defeating the then Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa in the by-elections held in Wagmati Province. The by-election is for the remainder of the term only. Taking the election date as the base, my tenure was 2 years and 9 months. After I entered the parliament, the assembly sat for 139 days. I was present on it for 130 days (about 94 percent).

The National Assembly is the place to exercise the sovereignty of the people. It is an integral part of the Federal Parliament. Parliament gives the government, gives the law. Parliament also has the role of electing the president and vice president and impeaching them. Parliament approves the annual estimates of revenue and expenditure presented by the government. It is the Parliament that amends the constitution, imposes a state of emergency, conducts a referendum, approves treaties, etc. Parliament also conducts parliamentary hearings of officials of constitutional bodies including the Chief Justice, Supreme Court judges, judicial council members, ambassadors. The scope of Parliament is wide.

But if we consider the 6-year experience of the entire Parliament, I found that the role of the National Assembly has been neglected. Some of the roles mentioned do not require a National Assembly. The constitution itself has weakened the role of the National Assembly. The National Assembly has been ignored by the political parties. There are complaints everywhere that the performance of members of the National Assembly is poor. There is also the idea that the National Assembly is subordinate to the House of Representatives. There is also a trend of breaking the pillars of the National Assembly with the anger of the House of Representatives. The government also does not attach much importance to the National Assembly. Ministers do not come much. Aiha sits alone for a while and returns. The activities of the National Assembly are not even in the priority of the media.

details of meetings and bills

From the first session of the National Assembly to the ninth session of the current 15th session (February 18), 389 meetings have been held in 336 days. 588 hours and 42 minutes have been spent in these meetings. Out of 58 bills originated in the National Assembly, 28 have been passed by both assemblies and have been certified by the President.

12 bills including monitoring and evaluation, food hygiene, public service broadcasting, education passed and sent by the National Assembly are pending in the House of Representatives. Twelve bills originated in this assembly have been withdrawn. Five (Nepal Media Council, Nepal Special Service Authority, Policy Research Foundation, Nepal Civil Aviation Authority and Nepal Air Service Authority) bills that originated in the National Assembly and were approved and sent to the House of Representatives were inactive after the term of the House of Representatives expired. It is important to have a provision that the National Assembly will do what he does when there is no House of Representatives. If this happens, the bill will not become inactive. The budget does not need to be brought by ordinance. The tendency of the government to deceive the parliament is improved.

In the first, eighth and ninth sessions, no bill was registered in the National Assembly. Only 6 meetings were held in the 8th session and 12 in the 9th session. Due to the restoration of the House of Representatives and the change of government, the work of the bill could not progress during this period. During the 6-year tenure of the National Assembly, 4 attention-grabbing motions and 5 motions of urgent public importance were discussed. Implementation of federalism, formulation of fundamental rights law, implementation of the rights of persons with disabilities and Dalit community, 6 resolution proposals were discussed and the government was instructed for implementation.

The more questions to the government, the more active parliament is.

On the third day after I was elected, the House of Representatives was dissolved on May 8, 2078. A week later, on May 15, it was time to submit the budget. He kept thinking what would happen if the budget was presented to the parliament and dissolved. The government announced the budget through an ordinance from the working room of the National Planning Commission at Singha Durbar. Budget numbers had to be heard on television screens. The Permanent House, the National Assembly, had to look at Tulutulu. According to the constitution, the time between one session of Parliament and another session should not exceed 6 months.

Due to this provision of the constitution, although the House of Representatives was dissolved, the meeting of the National Assembly was called for 078 June 17 (eighth session). I gave my first address on June 21. In the speech, I expressed the opinion that the map including Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and Lipulek and the copy of the constitution were not kept in the bodies and offices of parliament, government ministries, courts, etc. It had a good effect. Everyone immediately improved. After being elected, I spoke in Parliament for about 13 hours. 64 percent of it was exclusive time.

During the term, I participated in the discussion of 22 bills, voting against 6. There were 3 bills related to new universities. First of all, we need an umbrella university bill, I believe that it is not right for the state to open universities in a rush and the union to do the same. I am of the opinion that the existing universities should be transferred to the rest of the provinces by keeping one or two in the association. In the question of drafting the bill, the participation of real citizens is very low, middlemen dominate.

The more parliamentarians speak and question the government, the more active parliament is. The scenario of the government running away from the parliament and the opposition also blocking the parliament was seen. Even the National Assembly was blocked for a long time regarding the Speaker of the House of Representatives. I made rules so that the anger of the House of Representatives does not destroy the pillars of the National Assembly. The House of Representatives was restored on June 28, 2078.

The root of corruption is in the minister's office, I put the idea that CC cameras should be placed so that citizens can see the activities of ministers and secretaries. In Parliament, when the opposition party deals with the ruling party, including the chairman of the parliamentary committee. It undermines/undermines parliamentary activity. In the joint meeting of the House of Representatives and the National Assembly, I also said that the statement that the Parliament is a 'bag to sell dog meat by showing the head of a goat' is correct. As an example, joint committees are still without a chairperson due to non-participation.

With the belief that if the National Assembly does not speak the voice of the provinces and localities, who else will? After discussion in the assembly on May 19, 2079, the assembly also gave instructions to the government for implementation. Under my leadership, on May 20, a parliamentary special committee was formed to study and monitor the implementation of federalism. After on-site discussion in all seven provinces and some municipalities, we submitted the report to the Assembly. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has repeatedly said that the government has given priority to the implementation of the report. He also pronounced the report on the occasion of one year of government operation.

Parliament has delegated the power to formulate subsidiary laws (rules, regulations, guidelines, procedures, formation orders, standards, etc.) to the executive and the judiciary. There is no account of how many subsidiary laws there are in Nepal. Parliamentary committees have concluded that subsidiary laws are at the root of corruption. In this context, with the tireless efforts of the Delegated Committee and the Legislative Committee, including myself, Radheshyam Adhikari, Ram Narayan Vidari, the Government registered the Legislative Bill in the National Assembly. This bill includes issues such as ensuring the involvement of citizens in the drafting of laws. The bill has now been approved by the National Assembly and has gone to the House of Representatives.

Most of the plans and programs of the ministries are such that they violate the jurisdiction of the provincial and local levels. I presented the facts to some ministers that the budget was made at a lower level than the village of Savik. There was no institutional structure including prices and staff according to the work of the provincial and local levels, only the heavy lifting of conditional grants was done. Plans and programs were concentrated only in the constituencies of leaders and ministers. I constantly raised questions in the parliament about the state's resources and means not being fairly distributed.

Compared to the House of Representatives, the time management and reporting system of the National Assembly is better. It is customary to have intensive discussions with stakeholders and others in the drafting of the bill. There are many examples of bills being stuck in the House of Representatives committee for years. Like - Banks and Financial Institutions, Nepal Rastra Bank, Securities Bills were stuck in the Finance Committee for 3 years. With the expiration of the 5-year term of the House of Representatives, that bill became inactive. In the Second Amendment Rules of the National Assembly, we have provided that the committee should finish the bill that originates in the assembly itself within 6 months. There is not much practice of bringing non-governmental bills in the Parliament so far. We have organized this matter in the regulations. We have arranged that MPs who table a non-governmental bill in the House of Representatives can also defend the bill in the National Assembly. In the committees of the National Assembly, issues such as contemporary citizens' concerns, delegated management, measurement of laws, inter-level coordination and cooperation, implementation of federalism are continuously discussed and the directives of the committees are also enforceable.

There is widespread criticism of the National Assembly regarding representation. Political parties must be serious about this. People who have contributed significantly to the national life and have a close understanding of the state and local levels should be in the National Assembly. In the situation where the National Assembly does not have a role in the formation of the government, it is necessary to make the National Assembly the leader in drafting the bill. Legislation must originate in the National Assembly. MPs have a tendency to speak without preparation, to act in gibberish. This trend in both houses needs to be corrected. The Parliament Secretariat also needs to provide continuous orientation for MPs on the country's economy, levels of government, rule of law, current activities, etc.

Most of the bills come in the form of violating the rights of the state and local levels. The National Assembly should be alert as it is the guardian of the state and local levels. In most ministries, there is a tendency to accumulate budget, personnel etc. in all centers and distribute plans and programs based on their own preferences. Also, there is a tendency to focus the majority of the budget on the constituencies of the prime minister, ministers and leaders. The National Assembly should pay special attention to regional and local balance. There should be a digital parliament. Giving heavy documents to MPs should be stopped. I have found that Nepal has been praised by the international community regarding conflict management, implementation of three-tier government, etc. It is necessary for the National Assembly to take special initiatives regarding Nepal's provision of expertise to the international sector.

The dissolution of the House of Representatives, the impact of Covid-19, the disintegration of the then CPN and the seizure of power, the suspension of the Parliament session for 187 days, and other factors had a great impact on the entire parliamentary activities including the National Assembly. The National Assembly and the House of Representatives are two wheels of the same chariot. One's actions alone cannot achieve the desired results. In such a situation, both the guards renewal the cooperation of both the houses only for the reality of parliamentary. & Nbsp;